Gotham High School
by ZombieChristian22
Summary: Bruce's freshmen year was off to a good start, he had some friends, he already started developing a good reputation, but then all hell broke loose, as the new criminal underlings among the peers started rising and someone needed to stop them... But who?
1. Welcome to Gotham High

Bruce remembers the night like it was yesterday... He was 6 years old, him and his family on the way home from the theater performance like the have done the past month leading to this moment.

That alleyway... the warm, inviting streetlights laid 2 feet apart straight down the alley...

The armed, masked robber raising his gun onto Thomas's Wayne's head, demanding everything they had.

And then pulling the trigger.

Martha Wayne, desperate to save her son, attacked the robber. However, he panicked and accidentally pulled the trigger.

Terrified, and hearing police sirens, the robber ran into the night, leaving Bruce with his parents' warm bodies.

* * *

"Bruce..? Master Bruce?!" Alfred called out to Bruce, pulling him out of the dreamworld.

Bruce Wayne was now 15 years old, and about to join Gotham High, well known for its wealth, it's football team, and it's troublesome students...

"You don't want to be late for your first day, now do you?" The butler asked.

Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce's butler and caretaker, was warming breakfast and anxious to send Bruce off to the highschool for the first time. For the past several years, Bruce was home-schooled, in the safety of Wayne Manor. But due to a new law by Mayor Klass, all of Gotham's youth are required to join the public or private school system.

Poverty was never Gotham's problem, after all.

Gotham's crime wave has hit its peak in the past few months, inspiring Gotham High's students to let out their evil. Bruce felt that it was his job to do something about it.

"You ready, Master Bruce?" Alfred called.

"Almost, Alfred!" Bruce said as he put on his mandatory Gotham High uniform.

"Well, you have 9 minutes before we need to go. The first bell rings at 8, and it's 7:11 now."

* * *

Bruce exited the limo with a schedule at hand, accompanied with a map of the building. It was relatively large, multiple floors and separate buildings. Bruce opened the doors to see very few students roaming the halls, some taking a quick glance at Bruce as he paced down the halls.

"Wait, it that Bruce Wayne..."

"A Wayne at Gotham High?"

Bruce made it to his locker and put the code in. As he opened his locker, he heard someone lean on the locker next to him. He turned to see a female student with a hat with... cat ears on.

"Hi." She said.

"Hello." Bruce said back.

"You must be Bruce Wayne. I'm Selina, but people call me Cat-Girl."

"Because of the ears?" Bruce asked.

"It's part of it... Alright, I'm going to be direct, want a tour? Wanna meet some of the students?" Selina asked.

Bruce considered his options, his map could only get him so far...

"Sure." Bruce agreed.

"Alright, come on, let's go."

Bruce shut his locker and caught up with Selina.

"You already saw the main hallway, that was the locker hallway, and here's the gym."

When the gym came into view, Bruce saw several large, buffer students slamming baskets, launching dodgeballs, and landing touchdowns.

"You should know some of the decent ones. That's Waylon Jones, but everyone calls him 'Croc'. That's Bane, he has some authority issues- just don't get on his bad side, or he'll break your spine. Finally, that's Basil Karlo, he goes by 'Clayface'. He's not so good at sports, but you should see him with some makeup." Selina said.

Bruce noticed that she mentioned 3 out of the 7 jocks in the room. He decided not to ask and followed Selina to the stadium.

Yes, Gotham High had an entire stadium to themselves.

When the reached the first entrance, they were stopped by a cheerleader leaning onto the railing.

"This is Harleen Quinzel. She's a little crazy, just keep your distance." Selina whispered in Bruce's ear as the moved on, not making contact.

"Se-lin-a! Come on, Kitty! Come talk to Harleen!" They heard Harleen call out.

"Should we-"

"Just keep moving, don't make eye contact, she can see your curiosity..."

[hr]

"This is the chemistry lab. That's Jonathan Crane, he's a bit of a goth. He's experimenting with adrenal glands from the university, trying to create some fear gas or something."

"Hey, Cat. What's up?" Jon called out.

"Not much, Crane. You see Bruce yet?"

"Yeah, I saw him. From the bushes..."

Bruce seemed a little startled by this. Crane noticed and pulled out a notebook.

"Jumpy... at stalkers. Thank you for you donation, Mr. Wayne."

"Um... just 'Bruce' is fine." Bruce said, somewhat confused.

"Oh, well thank you, _Bruce._ " Crane said.

Selina saw Bruce's discomfort and decided to act.

"Nice seeing you, Crane." Selina said as she took Bruce's arm and pulled him out of the room.

They wound up in the hallway to the right of the chemistry room before watching a student being shoved into a locker.

"Look at this guy! I guess they call you-" The bully stopped after laying eyes on Selina.

She had the reflexes of a cat, leaping on top of the lockers, quickly crawling as close as she could to the bully, and pounced upon him, pinning him to the ground.

"I gave you warning after warning, Sionis! If I wasn't in charge of the new kid..." Selina said as she got off Sionis.

"Get out of my sight, and don't let me see you attacking Jo again!"

"You got it, lady! Geez..." Sionis paced away.

Bruce helped "Jo" out of the locker.

"So you're Jo?" He asked.

"Yes. Joseph, Joseph Kerr. You must be Bruce Wayne, I _love_ your company's work!" Joseph said, getting on his feet, baring a smile, and holding his hand out.

Bruce shook Joseph's hand and he immediately headed off.

"Who was that guy?" Bruce asked as he caught up with Selina.

"You have his real name, but everyone's got a nickname here. The jackass we saw was 'Black Mask', and Joseph just got his, so I don't know it yet. It doesn't seem good, though." Selina said.

Bruce was still shocked by Selina's skills, moving as if she was a cat stalking prey. Bruce thought that was why she goes by 'Cat-Girl'.

"Well, that's it. Welcome to Gotham High." Selina said as she headed off.

Bruce was heading back to his locker when he realized that his pocket was a lot lighter.

"Wait, where's my wallet?" Bruce asked, searching his pockets.

He guessed that someone pick-pocketed when he wasn't paying attention. Luckily for Bruce, he saved a few dollars for lunch just in case. Besides, he only had $30 in that wallet anyway...

The bell rang and homeroom started. Bruce looked upon the map and schedule and started hunting for his homeroom.


	2. Lunch

A few hours following Bruce's first steps into Gotham High, he noticed a few things about the teachers: They were all just as bad as the students. One teacher was the weirdest, Hugo Strange, Gotham High's "nurse"; the way he looks at Bruce just weirds him out most times. Also there was Professor Pyg, Gotham's anatomy teacher - he was just so off.

As for his wallet, he drew the conclusion that Selina took it off him some time during their tour. Crane explained that he indeed did not stalk Bruce, he was just testing his fears like he does with everybody. Kerr was cool, Bruce liked the fact that he survived despite being tormented by the students. He still doesn't know what Joseph's nickname is yet, but he thinks he knows what it is.

"Snowman? Come on, man. That has to be it!" Bruce said to Joseph, who sat with him at lunch.

"No, that's not it. I see why, though." Joseph said, referencing his pale skin.

Kerr was not as pale as a snowman, but Bruce figured that someone would've made that joke.

"Really, then what is it?" Bruce asked.

Before Joseph could answer, Selina and a beautiful, red-headed girl in a green T-shirt started approaching the duo.

"Hey, Bruce. Here's the change." Selina said as she tossed Bruce his wallet.

Bruce took it without hesitation or reaction. The girl Selina was with approached Joseph.

"Hey, Ivy." Joseph said blushing.

"Hey, J." Ivy said.

Who's Ivy.

Bruce didn't ask as Joseph and Ivy were off.

"That's Pamela Isley. She goes by 'Ivy', and yeah, she and Kerr are dating. Trust me, I'm still as shocked as you are." Selina said.

Bruce wasn't as shocked.

"Sometimes it's not about looks." Bruce said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Yeah, I guess so..." Selina said as she took a seat.

The two then see someone come and take a seat and sit down.

"Hey, Harvey." Selina said.

"Kyle." Harvey said.

Harvey...

"Wait... Dent?" Bruce recognized him, Harvey Dent was one of Bruce's supporters during his case of Wayne Enterprises' corruption.

"Nice to see you again, Bruce. It's been a while." Harvey said.

"Yes it has. How've you been?" Bruce asked.

"Good, good. After me and my mother supported your case, Assistant Principal Gordon insisted that I run for Class President. After some thought, I decided to run this year. I want _change_ around here, Bruce. You haven't been here as long as I have, seen the things these students have done. There was a gang a few months ago, called themselves the Red Hoods. One person in the group, the leader, wore a red mask, the Red Hood. In their spree, they killed over 12 students and teachers; it was bad, Bruce. Gordon was able to stop them with help of the GCPD. After that, I knew that it was time for a change..." Harvey said.

Bruce was silent as Selina confirmed everything Harvey said with a short nod.

"Anyway, we're getting off topic. I was hoping to talking you to supporting my campaign." Harvey said, oddly nervous.

"Of course. I'm sure you can clean this school up, Harvey." Bruce said.

"You know it's not as easy as saying yes, right?" Selina asked.

"Announcing your support could be able to turn the tide on me and Maroni, but it could also set a bad first impression. Trust me, Bruce, it won't be as quick as a few weeks once I have the title- hell, _if_ I get the title."

Bruce took a moment to consider this. He could be there for his friend and potentially tip the scale in his campaign, but make many enemies, or stay neutral and let something like the Red Hoods happen again.

"You know what? Let's let the coin decide." Dent said as he pulled out a silver dollar coin.

"You sure you wanna leave it to that?" Selina asked.

"It's my father's lucky coin. Led me to run in the first place." Dent said as he flipped the coin and caught it.

"Looks like it's heads."

"Alright then, I'll do it." Bruce said.

"Thank you, Bruce. You have no idea how much this means for my campaign." Dent thanked Bruce, shaking his hand while pocketing the coin.

"Of course, Harvey. I can already tell that this is going to be great." Bruce said.

* * *

After lunch, Bruce and Selina were heading to their next class when they saw Joseph being attacked again, but by Bane.

"Come on, Bane. I didn't mean it truly! It was just a-"

"I don't care about your damn jokes, Joker!" Bane said as he threw Bane against the wall _hard_.

"Hey, dipshit!" Ivy said across the room.

"What?!" Bane asked, clearly out of it.

"Back away, or you'll _wish_ you haven't looked in his direction." She said.

Bane seemed slightly afraid, but he didn't respond to her as he went to grab Joe again, but Ivy already thought ahead. She pulled out a small joystick from her pocket, and Bane clearly knew what this meant, stammering and panicking. She pushed the button down and took a gas mask out of her backpack. Geen gas emitted by the vents next to Bane and he fell on his knees, coughing up the gas as Joe just smiled.

"Smell that, big guy? Typical mushroom spores, over-the-counter. If you breathe in too much, you'll possibly die of mushroom poisoning. So back away, or puke your guts out." Ivy said, wearing a gas mask.

"O- Okay, I'll... AACK!"

Ivy got the message and pressed a button on her joystick, causing the gas to cease. Bane started breathing fresh air again, and Ivy pulled Joe away.

"You alright, J?" Ivy asked, dusting his jacket.

"Yeah, wasn't too bad this time." Joseph said.

"You really gotta cut back on the jokes, you know. One of these days, he'll snap your neck." Ivy said, pecking him on the cheek before heading off to class.

Bruce was in awe over what he witnessed. Selina had to snap him out of his state.

"We should go before we get caught." Selina said.

Bruce nodded and the two were off, leaving Joseph alone.

He turned to Bane, still struggling to stand, and he chuckled, and then laughed.

And then he was off to Science with his girlfriend.


	3. System

After Bruce was picked up by Alfred following his first day at Gotham High, the two started driving off back to the mansion. Bruce was deep in thought, trying to gather the pieces on Gotham High. The nicknames, the violence...

"So, Master Bruce, how was your first day?" Alfred asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, it was good." Bruce responded, trying not to stammer.

"Who'd you meet?" Alfred asked, sensing Bruce's startled response.

"Some of the students, um... It's complicated."

"Anyone of... _interest,_ sir?" Alfred was on to him now.

"That day will come, but it isn't here yet, Alfred." Bruce chuckled.

Alfred chuckled in response as the two continued driving home. As time passed, Bruce took out an old gift from his father: A pocket watch, painted black with wings forming on the inside.

"Master Thomas gave you that for your 6th birthday, didn't he?" Alfred asked.

Bruce's birthday occurred a month before his parents' death. Since they were killed, he considered this watch his most prized possession.

"Yeah. He did."

Silence fell upon the two as they continued to Wayne Manor.

They made it in time to see someone standing at the gates.

It was Selina.

"Bruce, stay here." Alfred said as he exited the car.

He approached Selina with caution. He rose an arm, but she turned and grabbed it with the reflexes of a tiger.

"Hey." Selina said.

Bruce exited the car in order to diffuse the situation. He got between the two and pushed them apart.

"Alfred, this is Selina. She's... a friend of mine."

"Well, alright then. Way to take a man down..." Selina said.

"Sorry, we're just not used to visitors..." Alfred apologized.

"It's alright, I honestly expected much worse. I just gotta speak with Bruce for a moment." Selina said.

"Of course. I'll... get tea ready." Alfred said as he headed inside, leaving Bruce and Selina by themselves.

"So, what do you wanna talk about?" Bruce asked.

"Look, I wanna be direct with you: Everyone in Gotham High's done something. It's the system Principal Leob set in place: Everyone must participate in the crime that we do. Leob's on to you, Bruce. He always thinks of ways to top people: Blackmail, threats... you name it."

"So why isn't he fired?" Bruce asked, angry.

"Bruce... Leob's protected. He's got enough reputation to burn this manor to the ground and find an excuse the public will buy. Try to stop him, you _will_ pay the price." Selina said.

"Why're you telling me this?" Bruce asked.

"I just... wanna get it off my chest before it's too late." Selina said as she paced off, leaving Bruce alone.

Bruce didn't know what to say, or what to think, so he headed back inside.

* * *

The bells in Gotham High rang once again, as Bruce entered the building. People weren't as shocked to see him, so they kept on with their conversations, but lowered their voices slightly.

Joseph was with Ivy in the greenhouse, so Bruce decided to pay them both a visit.

"Hey, Jo. Ivy." Bruce said as he entered.

"Oh, Bruce. What's up?" He asked.

"Not much. Mind if I talk to you alone for a moment?" I asked him.

"Sure, I'll be right outside." Ivy said, cutting Joseph off.

"Um... okay." Joseph said.

The two were alone, and Bruce decided to speak first.

"Selina told me about a 'system' here. Is she telling the truth?"

"Uh... well, there is a system here: It's called 'Lorex', it's in the cameras, uh..."

"I'm serious, Joseph. What kind of system does she mean?" Bruce asked with a tighter voice.

Joseph stammered, and sighed.

"Loeb has us working our asses off to aid the school, even if that means... _bending_ the law. Honestly, it's not all that bad." Joseph said as he laughed nervously.

"Selina said that everyone participates. Who does what, Joseph?"

Joseph was silent.

"I'll find out either way, but you can save me time and risk. Please Joe, lend me a hand here." Bruce begged.

Joseph sighed again and rubbed his eyes.

"Selina pickpockets people at gatherings related to the school, Crane's family makes bio-weapons to take care of snitches, and Ivy..." Joseph stammered at the last one.

"It's alright, you don't have to tell me. Thank you, Joseph."

Bruce left the room, for a curious Ivy to enter the room.

"What'd you tell him?" Ivy asked.

"The truth, just like Leob wanted to."

Ivy fiercely pulled Joseph in.

"Did you tell him about me? About us?!" Ivy asked, raising her voice.

"No, no I didn't." Joseph said.

Ivy pushed him off her, causing him to bang into the table behind him.

She left the room and Joseph rose up and dusted his uniform.

* * *

Bruce shared his first class of Math with Crane and Nygma. Nygma was a bit on the nerdy side, she always knew every answer to... everything. People found that annoying, but Bruce found that useful, and kept that in mind for after high school. He could always use new employees for the company...

After that, Bruce had gym with Croc and Bane. They would pummel him nearly every time. Bruce kept in mind that he has to practice at basketball more.

Then came Science with Selina and some guy named Victor. Victor Frise to be more accurate. Selina says that his girlfriend has some rare disease. Bruce decided not to ponder on it and started on Chemistry with Frise and Selina as his partners. The three actually made progress, finding a way to freeze a rose.

History with Mr. Ghul followed. The teacher certainly knows his fill of history, making him perfect for the job. Someone asked him how he knows so much, and he joked that he was there for all of them, which some believe is true.

Then Lunch came, where Bruce sat with Joseph, Ivy, Selina, Harvey, and the daugher of Assistant Principal Gordon: Barbara. They all chatted about what was wrong in Gotham High and Dent talked about how he wanted so stop it, to "Cure this school's sickness from the inside out".

After that, Bruce had Acting Class with Joseph, in which they were involved in an reenactment of _Hamlet_. They were planning out the roles when school was finally dismissed and Alfred was waiting for Bruce.

But Bruce never came.

* * *

Bruce was about to leave the building when he was grabbed from behind.

"Hey! What's-"

Bruce was face-to-face with someone strapped to a chair, his face covered.

"Hello, Bruce. I am Principal Leob. I'm gonna make this simple, who knows how smart you really are: Take the knife that's on the table, and cut that man's throat."


End file.
